A foot of an old cobbler (A shoemaker who repairs shoes). A foot that has probably never walked into malls, elevators or cars.. A foot that has hardly had more than 2 pairs of shoes/slippers which walk on bumpy stony roads, footpaths, staircases, farms, in buses & local trains.. & get old, shabby but they do not always have options. They get repaired.. & keep walking on & although he's one of the dying identities, millions of people still get their chappals/slippers/shoes repaired frequently by cobblers like Mr. GAIKWAD here.. & walk on

I recently had this opportunity to work on a part of a photo feature "The Dying Identities" by Aabha Chaubal. This series of dying identities, is trying to cover a concept known as "Bara Balutedar" that existed in Maharashtra before 1950. The farmer of a village traded his produce in exchange for the services of 12 specific professionals from the same village. Although the list of these professionals has varied from village to village the prime workers that belonged to this list were as follows:Sonar ( Goldsmith )Gurav (Idol-Dresser)Nhawi ( Barber )Parit (Washerman)Kumbhar ( Potter )Sutar ( Carpenter )Lohar ( Blacksmith )Chambhar ( Shoe maker )Dhor ( To Make Wearings of cattle-rare cast only found in Maharastra, Karnataka, Gujarat, and south India.)Koli ( Water Carrier )ChougulaMang (Watchman )